Tom Parker’s widow reflects on feeling ‘angry, sad and lonely’ on first Valentine’s Day without him

The Wanted star died of brain cancer in March 2022

Kelsey Parker has shared her complicated feelings about spending her first Valentine’s Day without her late husband, Tom Parker.

The 32-year-old posted a snap of her kissing Tom last year and reflected on how they were “full of hope” because he was at “the strongest and healthiest he’d been in a long time”.

The Wanted singer died of brain cancer at the age of 33 in March 2022. He received a diagnosis for a terminal brain tumour two years earlier.

In her Instagram post on Valentine’s Day (Tuesday 14 February), Kelsey wrote: “I was lucky enough to spend Valentine’s and another three weeks, just me and Tom. I never could have known how precious that time was or imagined the pain that was ahead of me and now, a year later, I’m facing the anniversary of a whole year without you, Tom.”

The mother-of-two continued: “I’m angry, sad, lonely, wishing more than anything that none of this happened to us. But it did, and I’m grateful for the years we had, the love we shares and the babies we made. I’m so grateful for them. They bring me joy every single day.

“So this Valentine’s I guess my message is that if you’re lucky enough to spend it with someone you love, cherish it. Soak it up. Reflect on the importance of your relationship, the love you feel for each other and remember to honour it. You are blessed.”

Kelsey and Tom had been in a relationship for 13 years, and married in 2018. She marked their fourth wedding anniversary last July.

Kelsey reminded people without a Valentine this year that “you’re not on your own”.

“Valentine’s is a day to celebrate love, so celebrate all the love in your world, whether it’s romantic or not,” she wrote.

She also thanked her followers, family, friends and neighbours in her village for helping her get through the last year.

“That anniversary is coming and it’s one of the hardest times right now, but today I’m going to remember how loved I felt for the last 13 Valentines with Tom. The years he went all out, the years we spent apart, but so in love, and I’m just going to remember how lucky I was.

“I love you, Tom. Thank you for the best years of my life.”

Earlier this year, Kelsey admitted it would take “years and years to get over” her guilt of not being able to stop her husband from dying.

In an episode of her ITV docuseries, Kelsey Parker: Life After Tom, she revisited the hospice where Tom died.

She said that despite knowing she did “absolutely everything” she could to help him, she still felt “guilt that I wasn’t able to save him”.

The couple shared two young children, three-year-old Aurelia and two-year-old Bodhi.